Homecoming is a happy but difficult time for Alejandría

The wicked face of evil showed up in Alejandría on September 21st,1999 when eight men were massacred, their bodies scattered in different locations in the outskirts of town. Since then, fear and death made themselves at home and violence eventually drove about 60 percent of the population away, about 2,000 people.

Now those families forced to flee over the course of the past 12 years are starting to return, an overwhelming situation that led Mayor Uver Arvey Aguilar to declare a red alert in Alejandría because there simply aren’t enough resources available to fulfill everyone’s needs.

In recent months, about 600 residents have returned, looking to pick up the pieces of the painful past they left behind and hopefully rebuild for a much more promising and brighter future.